Modem communication networks are typically comprised of a group of switches, which are referred to as nodes, and a plurality of transmission links that interconnect the nodes. The nodes serve both to provide user access to the network and to provide means for routing data transmitted across the network. The transmission links that interconnect these nodes carry the communication signals, and may comprise one or more different types of communications media such as wire, cable, radio, satellite or fiber optic communications links.
For a large geographical area, such as the contiguous United States, the total communication network infrastructure is usually an aggregate of a number of communication networks installed by individual network service providers that are interconnected at various node points. In many cases, a given network service provider will find it necessary (in order to meet a user requirement) to establish a connection between a node on its network and one or more nodes on a network of another network service provider. While interconnection arrangements between network service providers to facilitate such inter-network connections are known, they are generally based on long-term contractual arrangements and seldom result in an optimal allocation of network resources among the interconnecting network service providers.